Ratchet
Ratchet and Clank's second adventure in the Era series, taking off where the first game left us. This time, Ratchet will find out if interdimensional travel is still possible. Well, is it!? Storyline Harmendin City, Kandanni Ratchet, Clank, Talwyn, and Yurik, after dropping Qwark off in Metropolis, arrive at the Apogee Court, which is still in ruins, in the Markazian capitol city. "What happened now?" Talwyn says in annoyed distress. Even more buildings are crumbled, crumbling, or on fire. She catches one of the Markazian citizens, and asks what happened. "You should have seen the explosion! While you were gone, one the major factories just blew up! Another after-explosion happened just five minutes ago," he adds, glancing at the huge pile of rubble closest to them. "Was anyone hurt?" Talwyn worries. "That's like asking if the explosion even happened. Of course people got hurt. That's what happens when someone blows up a bomb factory!" Talwyn turns to Ratchet: "This has gone way too far. Let's go take a look." As they start to head towards the direction of the use-to-be bomb factory, the citizen stops them. "What's the point; we just watched a ship fly off the planet. It was obviously theirs, since they blew ours up. News said they live in the Civilan galaxy." "Well then we need to stop them. If we don't, they'll destroy everything. We don't even know what they want," Yurik says. "The queen stays here," the citizen says quickly. "In case we have any more problems." Talwyn looks disappointed that she can't come along, but she knows she has to assume her job as queen, and shrugs her shoulders. "Good luck guys!" she calls after them, as they head back to their ships and blast off to the Civilan galaxy. (This entire thing was a cutscene!) On the Way to Civilan "Let's check out Psidar first. Someone there has to give us information," Ratchet says. "Downloading coordinants for planet Psidar, Civilan Galaxy. Yurik, how's it going?" "The path is clear. We should be there in-- Ratchet, enemy ships!" Ratchet too notices the space pirates and Valkyries. "Just what we needed," Ratchet mumbles. "Ratchet, watch out!" Clank hollers, right as Aphelion auto-pilots a dodge under a space pirate ship. "Please watch where you're going," she warns Ratchet. "I can't do that all the time." Ratchet and Yurik fight off the attacking armada, and continue to Civilan. "What was that all about?" Ratchet asks. "I believe they were fighting over something," Clank says. "Oh, well. It can wait. Let's hurry up and get to Civilan. I didn't know it was this far away," Ratchet says. They continue on the way to Civilan, and manage to stay clear of feuding space pirates and Valkyries. Cave Valley Desert, Psidar Ratchet and company finally reach the Civilan galaxy, and land on planet Psidar, in the Cave Valley Desert: a cave filled desert valley (obviously!). "What are we looking for?" Yurik asks once they arrive. "I guess we should just explore until one of us find something," Ratchet tells him. They roam around the valley, into and out of various caves, fighting off Aridwyrms, pesky fireball-spitting mini-dragons. While radio-communicating to Yurik, asking about his progress, Clank picks up a conversation between three unknown people, apparently in the vicinity. "Where are you?" a young female voice yells. "I'm where I'm supposed to be; where the heck are you?" an older male voice counters. "You two shut up and focus. Are you at the open cave?" another male voice, lighter than the other, asks. "Which one? Do you know how many caves without ceilings there are out here?" says the girl's voice again. "The one with the green on the outside, duh," the first male tells her in an annoyed tone. The first two continue for a few minutes, Clank meanwhile tracking the source of the nearest one, being the girl: "Yeah, the one with the window on one side?" "There is no window." "Yes there is!" "Are you sure you didn't see moss on the side?" "Are you so sure you didn't?" "I know moss when I see it." "Whatever." "Don't start that teenage crap with me!" "There's no moss on the outside! It's a streak of green paint." "I'll bet it's not." "If I'm right, I get to blow your face up when you finally get your senses together get over here." The second male eventually intervenes: "She's right, Al. Find the green paint, and get there. And stop bickering! If you don't see a window, it's not the right place. Hurry up; we need that part!" While they were fighting, Ratchet managed to find the cave, Clank's navigation system pointing the way. Inside, all Ratchet could see was a sillouhette, which surprisingly resembled a female Lombax. "What the heck took you so long, Allen?" Apparently, all she could see was Ratchet's outline, and she obviously mistaked him for another Lombax, maybe who she was fighting with on the radio? As Ratchet walked further into the cave, she must have noticed it wasn't who she thought. "Oh, crud!" she worries, and starts running towards the wall. As she nears the edge, she calls into her wrist communicator. "Abbort mission! Someone's found me!" "Well, get out of there! Head back to Olmako. We'll meet you there!" "Idiot! He can hear you!" Then she starts to climb the walls with extraordinary skill. "Catch me if you can!" she sneers at Ratchet, when she is half way to the top. "Betcha don't got gloves like these!" she teases, and shows him the palm of one of her gloves, slipping a bit and nearly loosing hold. He can now clearly see her silver fur. There was no mistake; she was a real Lombax. He realizes there's no way he can catch up to her, or even climb the wall, so he starts running out of the cave. "Oh, no you don't!" she says, and tosses a bomb at the wall, trapping Ratchet. "You'll stay right here." Ratchet immediately calls Yurik, requesting help. After a while, Yurik comes in his ship and blows the boulders to pebbles. "Head to Olmako!" he informs the Fongoid. Yurik nods and flies off, and Ratchet finds his way back to Aphelion and follows. Tostador, Olmako Ratchet meets Yurik in Tostador, a small town on the outside of the capital city of Olmako, Serpento (yes, Tostador is Spanish for toaster). The town is inhabited by robot-people, who avoid Ratchet and Yurik like they have a plague. "What's their problem?" Yurik asks. Finally, one robot decides to talk to them. "Where's the rest of your posse, huh? Come to burn our factory again?" he says in a hostile tone. "What are you talking about?" Ratchet asks him. "We've never been here." "You're not one of those troublesome Lombax that live in Serpento? Who are you?" "I'm Ratchet, Yurik, Clank," he introduces them. "Actually, we're looking for those... uh, other Lombaxes. Do you know where they are?" "They're in Serpento. Their base is in one of the buildings, but I don't know anymore. Hurry up if you want to stop them." They thank and leave the rude robot behind, and head into the city. Serpento, Olmako They enter the city, and watch a newscast on one of the holo-screens. "As you know, we have been troubled by three Lombaxes terrorizing the city, as well as other cities around Civilan. Troops have been posted around the city. For your protection, we suggest you remain inside your homes until we have news of their demise. Please, enjoy your day as well as you can, and stay tuned for news concerning the Lombaxes." "Great. Now we have to go through the city's defenses. What else could go wrong?" As Ratchet says this, a someone sees him, and alerts the city. "I shouldn't have asked," he sighs. "Yurik, I'll go alone. We don't want them hating Fongoids as well as Lombaxes. I'll call you as soon as I get through." Ratchet heads deeper into the city, with Yurik guarding the ship. Several troops and city defenses try to kill Ratchet, believing him to be one of the three Lombaxes. Ratchet fights off the enemies, and, as he reaches the town square, encounters the leader of the troops, a giant mech version of the robot attackers. The battle is close, but Ratchet beats it, and it falls to the ground in a metal heap. "Thanks for the control." Ratchet spins around towards a voice, which sounds similar to the third he'd heard on the Psidar radio conversation,. Ratchet runs up behind him, but the other Lombax, a light brown-colored adult, is holding a citizen at gunpoint. Ratchet tries to sneak up, but the Lombax somehow hears him, releases the citizen, and instead aims the blaster at Ratchet. "Keep your mouth shut about this!" he commands the fleeing robot. "Or I'll track you down again. Now, for you," he growls, turning to Ratchet. He notices the other Lombaxes eyes aren't physically focused on him, and he realizes the light-brown Lombax is blind. That explains his extraordinary hearing. "Don't move. There're two other guns pointed right at you, and the moment you move, you're toast." Ratchet sees another, darker Lombax with a sniper on top of a building roof, aiming at him, and feels a blaster at his back, which belonged to the silver female he met in Psidar. An uncomfortable silence fills the area. The silver Lombax breaks the silence, asking what they should do now. "Um..." starts the light-brown Lombax. "Wait!" shouts the Lombax with the sniper. "Who are you?" he asks Ratchet, climbing down from the building with the same type gloves as the silver one. Seeing the other two with their guns still held at Ratchet, he commands them to let him go. The silver one, though, keeps her gun held. "I said let go, Mercedes!" "Fine," she says in a dark tone. "Are you Kaden's son, or something like that?" he asks Ratchet. "Yes," Ratchet replies. "Yep, it's him. Sorry about that. We've been jumpy about another Lombax since you ran into Mercedes on Psidar. Well, you've met Mercedes, I'm Allen, and this is my twin brother Eli." "Yes, I'm blind. Don't judge me; I keep blasters at all times." Eli pulls out two blasters from his side pockets, and spins them. "Show off," Mercedes grumbles. Allen glares at her. "Anyways, let's go, before Serpento catches on to us," Mercedes continues. "Too late," Eli says, nodding behind them. Multiple guards and defense bots swarm out around them. Despite being completely surrounded, they manage to fight their way out, before another giant mech could arrive, or something worse. "Meet us... um...--" Mercedes starts. "Starship, east orbit. Don't take too long!" Allen finishes. They blast off to the trio's starship. Allen and Eli's Starship, Olmako's Orbit Ratchet flies to the starship, and meets up with the three Lombaxes. As expected, they were already there, and, as usual, Allen and Mercedes are arguing over who-knows-what. They shut up as soon as Ratchet and Clank arrive. "Hi guys. Glad ya made it. We were afraid the city would be too much for ya." "Shut up, Mercedes. He can take care of himself." Allen glares at Mercedes. She turns and walks to the other end of the room, slumping down against the wall. "Sorry 'bout that. She has issues." "I can hear you!" she shouts at him. "Good." Allen turns back to Ratchet. "Here's what's going on: We came from the new dimension through a wormhole device called a Dimensionator, but I'm sure you're familiar with those. But, thanks to our great luck," he roles his eyes, "we ended up in the one galaxy that hates every Lombax's guts. So, we need a way out of here, and back to Polaris. We would do it ourselves, but the ship my father left us is a piece of-" "Hey, don't hate the ship. This was one of the best there was in Dad's time." "Yeah, well Dad's time is over. That was... what, about fifty years ago?" "It's a nice ship and you know it!" The two brothers continue bickering. Mercedes gestures for Ratchet to come over. "Now you see what I have to deal with. Anyways..." she says, "we need a way back to Polaris, and our ship won't do. So we're making a better one. That's why we have to steal from all those factories." "Miss, why can't you purchase the parts needed or a better ship?" Clank asks her. "We tried, but Allen wasn't kidding when he said they hate our guts. So here's the deal," she continues, "you help us build the ship, you can come with us back home. Feel free to use the weapon vendors we have. Armor too. And there's this really amazing obstacle course in the west wing. Go check it out, and I'll get those two back in line." She shoos Ratchet towards the west wing of the ship while she goes over to the twins, who are still fighting, and punches Allen in the face, and kicks Eli away. Ratchet heads off, and hears them beating each other up. Ratchet continues to the obstacle course, with a hoverboard course and robotic enemies to practice on. When he figured that the three would be done trying to kill each other, he heads back. "How was the course?" Allen asks. He's rubbing his head like it hurt, and the other two were sitting on the floor, getting themselves together. "If you're gonna be taking on the wildlife and people of Civilan, you'll need these." He hands Ratchet a set of red and black colored armor, equipped with friction gloves to scale walls, and a disc shaped weapon called an OmniBomb. "We have a whole room full of these kinds of weapons. Check it out whenever you want. The vendor'll give'm to you. Unfortunately, the vendors won't let us have our own weapons for free. We're working on rewiring them." "Guys! Scout just picked up the next piece!" Eli announces. "Planet Autona. Lets go!" They immediately forget about their fighting injuries and get to their ship. "Aphelion, download coordinants for Autona," Ratchet instructs. They leave for planet Autona. Once outside the ship, Ratchet remembers Yurik, and calls him. "We're headed to Autona. Meet us there." "Who's 'we'?" Yurik asks confused. "You'll see. Hurry!" Telesso Forest, Autona Autona is only a short distance away, and they have no trouble flying there, except for a fleet of Civilan Guards. They were easy to destroy, and soon Ratchet lands on Autona, in the Telesso Forest, meeting up again with the three Lombaxes. Yurik lands soon after, and introductions are made. Then, they set out to find the next component in building an intergalactic ship. "So, uh, what are we looking for exactly?" Ratchet asks. "Some piece for the engine. You can ask Eli what it is when we get back. He knows all the technical stuff." Mercedes shrugs and continues. The forest is filled with black spider-like robots, known as CiviSpiders. With close examination of a destroyed CiviSpider, Allen discovers that they were created and programmed by the Civilan Guard, giving them their name. "Great, now the whole galaxy is out to kill us," he mutters. "Lets just get out of here before they send some kind of robotic butterfly to smother us. These people have no class." They find a fork in the path, and choose to split up. Ratchet and Allen take the path to the right, with Mercedes and Yurik following the other. The promise to contact the other if one reaches their destination. While following the route, Allen asks, "What's it like in Polaris right now? It can't be as bad as here." "It's not. The Cragmites are back, but I think they've given up. Tachyon's gone, so the Drophyds backed off. Fastoon is in ruins, and a deranged little girl just got her butt kicked. What was with the bombing on Kandanni?" "Wasn't us." "But the ship they described looks just like yours." "What?!" Allen steps back, as if Ratchet just aimed the blaster at him. "That's impossible! No one has a ship like ours; it's over a hundred years old. The Lombaxes only made one, and we have it. No blue-prints invovled. And I already told you, our ship doesn't work with long-distance travel. Couldn't have been us, and I can honestly promise you it wasn't." "Okay, I give. But how could they have a ship like yours?" "No clue. Maybe whoever described it didn't see it right. Could've had a similar paint job or something." They walk and fight CiviSpiders for a while in silence. Then Allen fires another question: "So, are we the only Lombaxes now?" "As far as I know." "Didn't a few stay though? After we all left?" "My father died fighting Tachyon, and protecting the Dimensionator and me," he says sadly. "I met Angela about a year after I met Clank. Who knows where she is now. I heard on the news that Tachyon was chasing her, which doesn't give me a good feeling. And Azimuth..." Ratchet paused, remembering that fateful moment. "He gave his life to protect the Universe." "Wow, I'm sorry. We should hurry up. Nobody's called us yet, so I bet the piece is on our trail." Finally, after countless obstacles and CiviSpiders, they find hidden factory. More Civilan Guard-engineered robots guarded the factory, this time in the form of security bots called CiviSecurity. After ridding the factory of most of its security system, they found a vault, with a majority of the factory's high-value machinery. Allen leads the way to a strange-looking cereal box, opens it, and inside finds a flight component. "This here is capable of intergalactic travel on it's own. The hard part's going to be getting it to cooperate with the ship. Most Civilan-created things don't want to work willingly with Lombax-created things. Let's go." They attempt to call the others conforming they found the piece, but strangely no one answered. Eli was also not answering. "Something's wrong. Eli always ''answers. Let's get back to the base, and see if we can contact them there." They find their ships and return to the Starship. Allen and Eli's Starship, Olmako Orbit They land at the base to find everything wrecked. The computers, trashcans, vending machines... all beaten into useless chunks of metal scrap. " What happened here?" Ratchet says, at the same time as Allen says "Whoa..." They enter the main room and find a note on the floor, surrounded by more mess. Ratchet sees it, and reads it aloud: "We got a call from you guys saying you found the component. That was over two hours ago. We're going on to Ilbott. Hurry up! Mercedes." He inspects the note further, and on the back HELP is written along with scribbles from a pen lost control. "I didn't think they'd go to these measures..." Allen says quietly. "Who's they?" "I'll explain later; let's go!" They leave after salvaging what's left of the weapons and armor. Blackish-Blue Jungle, Ilbott "What's here?" Ratchet asks. "Them." Allen has become angry and glares out Aphelion's window. "Who did this?" Ratchet asks him. "Mercedes' been talking about some weird force from Ilbott that's been bugging her during missions. I didn't take much notice; they aren't the only thing trying to sabatoge us. What's weird is I haven't encountered them yet." Allen continues glaring. They arrive on Ilbott. The trees are blue and drip a black liquid that's gooey to touch. "She says they leave this behind from some sort of malfunction. Let's follow it." They run into a stronger version of CiviSecurity, called CiviKick-your-butt. They give Ratchet and Allen some difficulties, but aren't so tough without their armor. Without watching the ground, Ratchet falls into a hole, leaving him and Allen seperated. The hole turns into a cave, and the cave turns into a tunnel. He follows it, with Allen exploring above, until he comes to a small campsite. He pokes around until he hears voices approaching, laughing, and recognizes them as Mercedes and Eli. He hides behind a tent, but Eli hears him shuffling around. Mercedes grabs him and holds a blaster to his face. "You're gonna go sit down like a good little kitty and stay shut up, or I'll blow your head right off!" she screams at him. She ties Ratchet up and tosses him against the wall of the cave. "Now what?" she asks Eli. "We wait for Allen," he says simply. Allen arrives soon (after playing as him for a little bit) after setting off a mine and creating a hole in the roof of the cave. He falls in and stands back up, seeing Ratchet tied up and Mercedes and Eli aiming at him. "This is... not what I expected... at all... What's going on?!" He shouts. " You're so stupid Allen. You're the only one who wants to go back home. Why can't you enjoy all the killing and destruction we get to cause here?" "Because Lombaxes aren't ruthless killers," he says. "Speak for yourself," she tells him. "Eli?" she asks expectantly. "What?" he asks in a clueless tone. "Well, don't you want to kill your brother?" "No." "Why? Hasn't he been using you for the past years, never letting you man up and take charge? I'll bet he's been making fun of you behind your back!" Eli apparently believes her, and goes to shoot Allen when he gets nailed in the head with a rock. "Ow you little..." Ratchet's standing a few feet away, tossing a rock in his hand. No one noticed that he and Clank managed to untie themselves. "Hands off or you're both reduced to ash," he says, coming to stand by Allen. Eli lowers his gun, but Mercedes pulls the trigger. The shot goes right between Ratchet and Allen, heading back towards where Ratchet came from. She goes to shoot again, but is out of ammo. "Crap," she says. They just stare at each other until the shot comes back and hits Mercedes, knocking her against the far wall. She holds up a remote and clicks the only button, and a huge black and blue butterfly busts through, making the hole Allen made even bigger. "And there's that butterfly she wanted," Ratchet said. He and Allen battle it, Eli getting knocked out by falling rocks (wouldn't you want to knock your siblings in the head sometimes too?). They break the butterfly, and it falls on Mercedes, presumably crushing her. They leave, Allen grabbing Eli, being loyal to his brother. Back to the starship they go! Allen and Eli's Starship, Olmako's Orbit Eli comes to when they return to the starship. The first thing Allen says is "I swear I'd never make fun of you, and it's definitely time to boost your technology." The second thing he says is "Oh, and I understand if you never want to see another rock in your life." They both laugh, and Ratchet goes out to the hangar to check out Aphelion incase any natives tried to damage her. "You can stop looking her over; Ilbott is totally uninhabited." Ratchet jumps and flips around at the sound of Mercedes' voice. "Listen, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry about what happened back there. I don't know what came over me. Both my parents were in the assassins section of the guard back in the other dimension. They killed each other, and for some reason I wanted to be more like how they were, but better. I secretly train since I was 9 to be an assassin, and it worked until I got stuck here. No orders, no extensive shooting... It's like a bird with a broken wing. If the guys ask, I'm still squished under the creepy giant butterfly." She hops back in her ship and takes off towards Olmako. Both Allen and Eli were standing in the doorway the whole time. An explosion is seen from Olmako, and Mercedes calls Ratchet. "Yeah, uh, that didn't work. A little help here?" They go to get her, the story cuts off. Mercedes can be heard saying "Eew! There's mechanical butterfly guts in my shoe!" '''Da end! For now... Dun dun dun dun!' Gameplay Harmendin City, Kandanni It's just a huge cutscene. No playtime here! On the Way to Civilan You fight off a bunch of space pirates and Valkyries. That's mainly it. Aphelion may or may not upgrade, depending on how you go about it. The more you use one weapon, the better. Cave Valley Desert, Psidar Here's where the real action begins. There are Aridwyrms, little ankle-biting dragons that spit fireballs at you. Some of them aren't so small, though. Larger ones dot the valley. About three-fourths of the way through, Ratchet tries to call Yurik, but you pick up a radio conversation between the three Lombaxes. A small map appears on the lower left corner of the screen, and you follow it to Mercedes. Once you get to the cave where she is, with a window apparently connected to a factory inside the valley wall, you get hit with another cutscene. After Yurik comes and blows out the rock wall, you get back to your ship, with more Aridwyrms trying to eat or kill you. Once you get back to your ship, you have nowhere else to go but Olmako. Tostador, Olmako Ah, the toaster town. No, it's not infested with toasters, but it is inhabited by robots. You can destroy them like consumer bots for bolts. Eventually, some rude old robot will come and tell you to head into the city. Serpento, Olmako The second real level. The enemies here are more difficult to kill than the Aridwyrms, but not too difficult. At least, not until you reach your first boss: a giant mech robot. Beat it to smitherines, and be stuck watching another scene, introducing you to Mercedes, Eli, and Allen, three Lombaxes that will help you on your journey. You fight past the guard alongside them halfway to your ship. Then you blast off to their base, a starship Allen and Eli inherited from their parents. Allen and Eli's Starship, Olmako's Orbit You arrive and walk into the central hub, which serves as the main room. Cutscene time! You can stay and watch the three beat each other up, but they won't stop until you finish the course. Go to your right to the course. First you hoverboard over the track and win the race against the robots. Then, you fight off as many as you want in the small fighting ring. Now you can go back and get your armor and new weapon from Allen. The room opposite the course is now unlocked and you can purchase any weapons you want, or wait until later when they have rewired the vendor and get them for free. Then leave for Autona. Telesso Forest, Autona You arrive, and after a cutscene of introductions, pair up with Allen to follow a trail in the forest, leaving the others to follow another trail. You encounter CiviSpiders, evil black spiders that could be either small or large sized, and they supply you with plenty of fighting as you listen to Ratchet and Allen talking. When you get to the factory, there are robots called CiviSecurity, which are slightly stronger than CiviSpiders. You'll mostly fight CiviSecurity, but may encounter a few CiviSpiders. You then find your way to the room with the cutscene of a cereal box. Then, finally, the level is over. Now go back to your ship via teleporter and head back to the Starship. Allen and Eli's Starship, Olmako's Orbit Justa video thing, except the getting armor and weapons. Blackish-Blue Jungle, Ilbott Fight the weird-yet-cool-looking CiviKick-your-butt robots, then fall into a hole, then follow the tunnel, then watch the cutscene, then be Allen. You basically keep running the same way, beating up the robots, then enter a minefield. You may think the objective is to cross it, but you should actually blow up the pulsating red one. Yeah, that one right there. NO, the other one. YES, finally! Then you watch the cutscene and Mercedes calls this butterfly thing (remember her comment earlier) to kill you. It's actually hard to beat, what with having rocket launchers, machine guns, lazers... I could go on and on. But you blow it up and watch the ending of the game. Allen and Eli's Starship, Olmako's Orbit After finishing watching the ending cutscene, you shall be able to enter challenge mode. TADA! That's all the action for this game. Done for now. Characters 'Ratchet- '''He kinda has to be in his own game. It only makes sense. '''Clank- '''Ratchet's awesome robotic little buddy. '''Allen-' Strangely colored dark brown Lombax. Leader by default of his little group. 'Eli-' Allen's twin brother, but a little lighter in color. Blind tech genius of the group. 'Mercedes-' Young silver and red Lombax, with the stereotypical teenage attitude issues. Quickest and more tempermental. 'Talwyn Apogee-' Markazian queen of Kandanni. Forced to stay behind during this adventure. 'Yurik- '''A friendly Fongoid from Gimlick valley that helps them out. '''Civilan Guard-' The Civilan Galaxy's basic defense system. Enemies 'Civilan Guard- '''The Civilan Galaxy's basic defense system. '''CiviSpiders- '''Black robotic spiders designed with the intent on killing Ratchet and company. '''CiviSecurity- '''Robotic sentries designed to protect important places. '''Giant Mech Civilan Guard- '''Last resort for defending a place. '''CiviKick-your-butt-' A much more advanced version of CiviSecurity. '''Mercedes' Giant Butterfly- '''A huge butterfly complete with multiple weapons and a blue and black finish. Apparently it has mechanical guts that wound up in Mercedes' shoe.